CAs Holding Free Tax Clinics for People With Low Incomes

Head Office March 10 Clinic Just One of Many Across GTA and Province

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 8, 2010) - For the 42nd year, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario is holding a Free CA Tax Clinic for low-income Ontarians. On Wednesday, March 10, volunteer Chartered Accountants will be on hand to help people who have made appointments to have their taxes done free of charge at the Institute's office at Yonge and Bloor streets in Toronto.

It was 1969 – the year of Woodstock and the first Apollo mission to the moon – when the Institute first launched the Free CA Tax Clinic program. Designed to serve low-income people who need help preparing tax returns, the Free CA Tax Clinics help these people receive much-needed tax credits and refunds. Since the program was initiated, thousands of Ontarians have benefited from the volunteer tax-time help of 1,600 CAs and CA students. In 2009 alone, they prepared more than 11,500 returns for people in need.

Free CA Tax Clinics are now held across Ontario from mid-February until the end of March. To qualify for this free tax return assistance, total household income must be less than $25,000 with dependents or less than $17,000 without dependents. Appointments for this clinic can be booked by calling 416-962-1841 ext. 0. For information on other GTA clinics call 416-962-1841 ext. 462.

These Free CA Tax Clinics operate in co-operation with a variety of community service agencies – including food banks, charities, hospitals, senior centres and homes, community centres, social service agencies and libraries. To help those agencies carry out their valuable day-to-day work, as part of the Free CA Tax Clinics Program, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario also offers additional support by providing them with a donation based on the number of tax returns prepared.

WHAT:

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario Free CA Tax Clinic for low-income people

WHEN:

Wednesday, March 10 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

WHO:

Chartered Accountants preparing tax returns for those in need

WHERE:

The Institute of Chartered Accountants, 69 Bloor Street East, Toronto

About the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario:

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario is the qualifying and regulatory body of Ontario's 33,000 Chartered Accountants and 5,000 CA students. Since 1879, the Institute has protected the public interest through the CA profession's internationally recognized standards of qualification and the enforcement of its rules of professional conduct. Ontario CAs contribute greatly to international and domestic investor confidence in the soundness of the Ontario and Canadian economies. The Institute's website is: www.icao.on.ca and the student website is www.guidetorulingtheworld.ca.